Encounters
by Chaki Chaki 3
Summary: AU, ONE-SHOT NEJITEN The coach didn't make sense. The referee didn't make sense. The announcer didn't make sense. This entire game didn't make any sense. At all. Neji doesn't understand football. There's one girl that makes it worth it though. R&R!


**Just a quick short story ^^**

**I know Neji may be a little-off character in this, but I just wanted to make the story all cute-ish.**

**I don't own Naruto!**

**Please, go ahead and read my other stories, The Double Date, and Perfection Challenged and review them! If you are reading them, imagine this like... an omake! x)  
**

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"Second quarter, first down!"

"Interception from number 26... Touchdown!"

"Incoming challenge from the coach."

"Number 18 has passed 250 yards rushing!"

What. The. Heck.

The coach didn't make sense. The referee didn't make sense. The announcer didn't make sense.

This entire game didn't make any sense. At all.

Hyuga Neji carefully observed the athletes running up and down the field, watching every movement they made. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't understand the game of American football. It all seemed the same. The ball was passed, someone threw it, someone caught it, and someone fell. And then-for some reason-everyone piled up on the guy who fell, and then the referee started blowing his whistle like there was no tomorrow, and everyone separated. Then the whole game was put on hold because the coach and the referee would always argue about...something, and later the game restarted. But the whole process just repeated itself. What was the point of playing if they could only do so for twenty seconds before the referee stopped them again?

Neji didn't understand.

He resignedly slouched on the metal bleachers, finding it pointless to try to comprehend the game any further. Instead, Neji decided to stare at a cicada that had fallen on the bleacher in front of him. He was about to deem the insect just as boring as the ongoing game, but it suddenly hopped onto a female student, who started to shriek and jump around. Interestingly enough, the boys around her were just as frightened of the bug as she, and no one made any effort to rescue the "damsel in distress."

After her screaming became more annoying than amusing, Neji was about to flick the cicada off the girl's head when someone beat him to it. A pretty, petite girl carefully took the bug in her delicate hands and silently walked away.

_'Weird...' _Neji thought to himself.

The girl looked to be the same age as him, and she was wearing the same uniform as the girls at his school. She looked a bit thin and her hair was set up in two buns. But Neji had never seen her before, and he wondered why that was. Without realizing it, Neji watched as the straight-faced girl walked down the rows of bleachers, occasionally picking up another cicada along the way, and knelt on the ground, letting the insects crawl to safety under a tree. He could just barely see a smile on the girl's face.

She returned to the bleachers and ascended the stairs in between. It wasn't until she actually sat next to him when Neji realized she had been sitting there the whole time.

He observed her from the corner of his eye and noticed she looked incredibly...

Bored.

She was pretty, no doubt, but that sullen look on her face didn't emphasize that positive aspect. Surprising himself, Neji asked her,

"Do you understand this game?"

It took a few moments for the girl to realize Neji was talking to her, and she quietly replied,

"Honestly... I don't have a clue."

Neji chuckled a little. "Neither do I. But I had to come here to take pictures for the yearbook." He held up his professional Nikon camera with a little pride. "What about you?"

"My friends think I need to be more social," she replied with a small grimace, "So they dragged me here. They're with some other friends right now."

Neji was taken aback at the delicacy of her cute voice, which flowed perfectly and gently like a cloud. He didn't expect such a sweet sound from this girl. Suddenly wanting to hear her talk more, Neji attempted to prolong their conversation.

"So, I mean... What's up with this game? There are so many rules, it seems like the players can only move around for so long before it all stops again."

The girl covered her mouth and softly laughed, surprising Neji even more than he already was. In addition to a beautiful face and voice, she also had a beautiful laugh. Still smiling lightly, she said,

"I was just thinking the same thing."

Before either of them knew it, something clicked between them that made them talk to each other more and more. Soon, their conversation wasn't just about American football, but they had gone on about plenty more subjects-music, hobbies, cell phones, and even ice cream flavors.

Neji always tried to make the girl laugh, and he succeeded every time, much to his secret delight. She even laughed at his corny jokes, which made Neji even happier, because his friends always teased him for not being able to tell a good joke if his life depended on it.

They felt comfortable near each other, and the game wasn't that boring anymore.

As the two were talking about cooking ramen noodles, the girl's cell phone rang. Excusing herself politely, she answered the phone.

"_Moshi moshi_? ...WHY? Yosh... Okay, okay. Yeah, I'm coming..."

Sighing slightly, she hung up and pouted a little (which Neji found incredibly cute).

"I'm really sorry... My friends are calling me to leave with them. One of them got into an...argument with some guy."

"Oh... So you have to leave?" Neji didn't even bother to hide his disappointment.

"Yeah... I'm sorry." She started walking away, but turned slightly and added, "I'll see you later!"

"H-Hang on!"

She faced him completely now, wondering what Neji was going to say. After a few moments of clearing his throat, Neji managed to ask,

"Can...can I take a picture of you? F-For the...yearbook?"

"I guess... But I'm not very photogenic," she mumbled, smiling nervously. Neji laughed and steadied his camera.

"That's okay. You look nice."

_Click!_

"All right..." She looked to the side, feeling a little disappointed she had to leave. "I'd better get going now. Bye!"

And with one final wave and a smile, she ran down the bleachers and was soon out of sight.

Neji sighed heavily, missing her already.

Then he realized...

He never got her name.

With another deep sigh, Neji mentally cursed himself for being such a loser. But when he saw the picture of the smiling girl on his camera screen, his mood immediately became enlightened. Neji smiled and said to himself,

"See you later."

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**D'aaaaawwwwwwww...**

**Really, NejiTen is so easy to write. I couldn't seem to find a pairing I liked to go with this story I came up with. I was thinking NaruHina, but Naruto wouldn't be like this. Then, I was just thinking "just Shino, and some random girl," but... Shino isn't one of my favorites...**

**Thanks for reading! Please review and read my other stories!**

**Chaki~**

**EDIT: WTF. I put Tenten's name instead of Neji's 3 times. OTL  
**


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